Bryson Graham Introduction: Rebuild, Hiring Search, Draft, Luxury Tax

The Bulls know that they’ve let the city down in recent years. In Wednesday’s official introduction of the newly-hired head of basketball operations Bryson Graham, team CEO Michael Reinsdorf held himself to bame for the lack of success, writes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.

“First I’ll start with our fans,” Reinsdorf said. “I want to, actually I need to, say I’m sorry because the results obviously haven’t been there. It’s not something I’m proud of and it’s something I want to get right. Ultimately it flows up to me and I take responsibility. I do feel that (Wednesday) is a step in the right direction and it’s an important step.”

Reinsdorf says it only took him two minutes at dinner with Graham to know that he had found his new executive vice-president of basketball operations, Jon Greenberg writes for The Athletic. One of the reasons he hired Graham was the feeling that he wouldn’t take shortcuts. Graham agreed, likening his own grit and determination to that of the championship Bulls teams of the 1990s.

To that point, Graham’s first order of business was setting expectations. He made it clear that the team understands how much work there is to do in order to field a competitive roster, Jamal Collier writes for ESPN.

“I’m not going to be up here and mince words and say we’re further along if we just add a couple of pieces,” Graham said. “Because that’s not the case.”

Instead of continuing the previous regime’s attempts to compete for playoff spots, it sounds like the word “rebuild” has finally been embraced in Chicago.

“Most rebuild situations is when you don’t have star-caliber players,” Graham said. “Right now, not to say we don’t have anyone on this roster that can get there, but until we continue to draft well, add to this mix, and add overall talent and team identity, yeah, we’re in a rebuilding phase.”

Here’s more from Graham’s introduction:

• The new executive said he’s going to cast a wide net in order  to find the team’s next head coach, including names that are unfamiliar to the public. It sounds like that openness won’t apply solely to the coaching staff, either. “I want a collaborative and very communicative organization,” Graham said. “It doesn’t matter about the position. Everyone in this room can have something that can add to making the right decision, so I want to take in what everyone says, and I want to process that.”
• While Graham has never led a team personally, he did run the Pelicans’ draft room, Greenberg writes, and played a large part in New Orleans hitting on players like Herbert Jones, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Trey Murphy III, Naji Marshall, and others later in the first round. “Over a six-year period, by several different metrics, Bryson’s had the best draft record in the NBA,” former Pelicans executive David Griffin said. “The return on those guys versus expected value has been remarkable.”
• Reinsdorf says the team will be willing to operate as a large-market, luxury tax team when it’s ready to compete at that level, but likely not before. “If we’re competing for championships, we expect that we’ll probably be in the luxury tax and totally okay with that,” Reinsdorf said. “I don’t want to be in the luxury tax for a team that’s not in the playoffs.”